Here it is, the chapter you've all been waiting for! Please don't hurt me! lol


Bella struggled for breath beneath Bastian's body and whimpered as she felt gravel pierce the skin on her back. For the briefest of moments, she didn't know what had happened. Then it hit her. Someone had been shot.

A quick mental scan of her own body picked up no traces of pain that she would associate with bullet wounds and so she guessed that it hadn't been her, even though it should have been. Her eyes focused on the top of Bastian's head which was lying motionless on her chest.

No! NO...it can't be…

She moaned and contemplated cruel fate. If Bastian had given his life to save hers, she didn't think she'd ever be able to forgive herself. Had he pushed her away and in doing so taken the bullet that was meant for her?

"Bastian?" she whispered as the air slowly began to return to her lungs. There was no response.

"Bastian!" she sobbed and used her free arm to gently brush away his hair, which had come loose from his pony-tail and was now bedraggled and spread around the upper half of her body. Silence greeted her once more. The rain had stopped now. Its absence made the intense quiet even more eerie. Her worst fears seemed to have been confirmed. Bastian was dead. She felt utter despair start to fill her heart. She closed her eyes and felt the last few droplets of rain play upon her eyelids and cheeks.

"Please don't leave me. I love you," she mouthed into the air, as she could no longer bring herself to make a sound.

Then, just as she'd prepared herself to embrace eternal darkness, she felt something stir next to her heart. Her eyelids flickered open again and she saw Bastian's head groggily move from its resting place on her breast. She gasped and choked as the pressure lifted and she could breathe properly again. She'd never been gladder to take a breath in her entire life. It smelt and tasted fantastic.

Bastian was now kneeling by her side, looking stunned and running a hand through his hair. When he heard her gasp, he took her hands and helped her sit up.

"Can you move at all?" he asked as he inspected her quickly for wounds. "Are you hurt?" Bella shook her head wearily.

"You?"

He smiled weakly.

"I don't think so."

Bella was relieved until she saw the blood all too obvious against the white of his shirt.

"You're bleeding though!" she gasped.

Bastian examined the stain and gingerly lifted up the side of his shirt.

"It's the cut from earlier. That's all."

"So…you're not shot?"

"Apparently not."

"Oh thank God!" Bella shouted to the heavens and flung her arms around his body. She held him tight as if she was certain he would slip away from between her arms. At first he did not hold her back but then she felt his warm arms encircle her waist and his head nestle next to hers. She was suddenly aware that something was different but couldn't place what it was. It hardly mattered for the moment though.

"I thought you were dead," she murmured on his shoulder.

"So did I," he said, his eyes wide as if in disbelief. He released Bella and she looked at him. Something was different, she realised as she stared into his beautiful green eyes. They seemed clear, open, more peaceful somehow. The lines seemed to have vanished from around the corners too. The effect was quite startling.

"What is it?" he said as he raised an eyebrow in a puzzled fashion.

Realisation suddenly struck Bella, interrupting her thoughts. There had still been a gunshot. If neither of them had been shot, then what had actually happened? Did he miss?

She leapt up, abruptly aware that the threat could still be very real. What she saw made her scream. There was a man standing with a gun, but it wasn't Patrick. Patrick lay on the floor, a bloody mess where the back of his head used to be. No, the man with the gun was Tristan.

Hysteria engulfed Bella and she desperately fought the urge to vomit there and then as she looked from the remains of Patrick to his killer. His own son. Bastian had also gotten up and was standing trying to absorb what he was seeing before his eyes. He was surprised to hear the unmistakable wails of sirens in the distance.

………………………………………………………………………………………

After his fight with Bastian, Tristan ran dazed through the smoke and flames, trying not to cough and choke. He was running on auto-pilot, fuelled by shame and a longing for vengeance. He was looking for his friends, having decided that, as much as he hated to admit it, he needed help in carrying out his attack on Bastian, but so far he was only being met with burning carpets and walls. He didn't know what it was that had made him run off so quickly or that had turned him into an instant wimp when threatened, but he was determined that the temporary setbacks shouldn't blot his record for too long. He shuddered as he recalled how he'd pleaded and begged for his life. Pathetic! No wonder his father was ashamed of him—he'd been entrusted with a simple task and he had failed miserably. He had run at the first sign of trouble, and even worse, he had been passed over for a murdering psycho by the most beautiful girl in town. It was downright embarrassing. He was actually thankful that she had arrived when she did—he had no doubt that that knife would have been in his throat had she not intervened—but her presence had distracted him ever since he'd first stepped into the conservatory and sensed her spirit. That was why he had failed—yes, that was why.

He had found his way to the entrance hall but it was barely recognisable. Flames had already devoured most of the furnishings and now licked up the walls, leaving trails of soot and destruction in their wake. Smoke made the air thick and eye-watering but was not so bad that Tristan couldn't see that the place was devoid of human life. Everyone had sensibly left, and Tristan would have followed them if the front door hadn't been blocked by a sea of flame. He refused to panic (Blaines never panicked—it was a sign of weakness) and so, as calmly as he could, he turned around and strode back the way he had come, despite the blackening of his clothes and the sweat dripping off his body.

It wasn't long before he found the conservatory and the unobstructed door to the outside world. He hurled it open and gulped clean air into his lungs, then looked around at his surroundings. It was pitch black. Stars twinkled above him in the night sky. A full moon hung like a luminous orb in the heavens. If he had been another sort of person, he might have stopped awhile; admiring the beauty of the night, but Tristan had more pressing matters on his mind than star-gazing. He guessed that it was late--or early depending on how you looked at it-- and there were still many hours of darkness ahead. Plenty of time to hunt down the friends who had deserted him and drag them back to help him out. He knew he couldn't handle everything on his own anymore and this made him very angry.

Suddenly, he heard noises somewhere in the darkness, drowning out the crackling and hissing of the fire behind him. He listened intently. It sounded like voices—familiar voices. Were Bella and that creep nearby? If so, the opportunity was too good to miss. He started to walk towards them, but froze dead in his tracks. Was that his father's voice? He listened again. There was no mistaking the gravely, slightly slurred tone that had scolded him and belittled him constantly throughout his life. What was his father doing here? This was his territory, his hunting ground, his opportunity to shine—why was his father intruding after entrusting the job to him? There was only one way to find out.

Fear was the way to go. He would creep up on the conversation, and then pick the perfect moment to strike—once he figured out what his father was up to. As he stalked silently through the grass, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could see a solitary figure turned away from him. A few steps more and there were two other people—Bella and his prey—in front of the lone person. Their voices drifted through the rain-soaked air into his ears. His father seemed to be doing most of the talking. It was true then—Patrick had decided to take over the task himself. Disappointment and frustration burned up inside Tristan. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't he please his father? Why couldn't he ever make him proud? It wasn't his fault—it shouldn't be his fault—he'd never been given a chance to show him just how capable he was of being a true Blaine. Patrick always ruined things for him—driving his mother away, driving his sister away, insulting him, degrading him…

As if to reiterate the point, Tristan's ears filtered Patrick's voice, making certain phrases echo inside his head.

…"That useless wretch…I couldn't care less where he is…a son who isn't a complete failure would be nice…he doesn't deserve her…that pathetic son of mine…"

And what was this? Patrick was saying that he was the one who had killed Bastian's parents! It all made sense now—too much sense—and it meant that his father had lied to him! Lied to him and sent him off to kill an innocent man!

An angry sob threatened to burst forth from Tristan's mouth but he sensibly kept it quiet. How dare he! HOW DARE HE! His fingers, shaking with rage, were back in his pockets, playing with the second weapon he'd brought with him, but he was hardly aware of it as he noticed Patrick produce his own gun and point it at Bastian's head. Tristan watched in stunned anger as the gun's target was then suddenly switched to Bella. Beautiful Bella—the object of his desire for as long as he could remember—and her life was about to be stopped by his father. The ultimate betrayal.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Tristan pulled the gun out of his pocket and pulled the trigger. Then he watched blankly as his father slumped to the ground in front of him.


So...what do you think? Do you Gastonians want to wring my neck? Lol! This story is almost over :( Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, Klaske, Trudi and Faith for clearing up a few things for me about stitches and police (all to come in the next chapter), and Trudi for being my beta :)

Ok, review responses, and there were a lot of them...

Hearts Aflame-You were the first of many to hate me for my cliffhangers! I swear I'm done with them now. Honestly. Cross my heart and hope to die etc etc

TrudiRose-'The Mistress of Suspense'? I like that, i think i'll put it on my business cards. And I'm glad you liked Patrick being all oily and that-he's a mixture of Blackadder and some really creepy person in my imagination! Don't you think he'd make a good Bond villain? And you get a prize for being closest to guessing what happened next by wondering where Tristan had got to and saying that you hope he redeems himself. For a minute there I thought you had it all figured out! But I still managed to shock you, so yay!

BlackRosesBorn- Hmmm, i'm starting to think I should put health warnings on my chapters! Hope you have the hyper-ventilating under control now. Oh, and your review made me laugh my socks off..."tries to look threatening whilst breathing through a paper bag" LOL!

LumBabsFan-Are you pleased I didn't kill her now? Lol, i'm not that mean, i love happy ending too much! Plus I didn't think the BatB fanfiction would be able to cope with someone else 'pulling a Klaske' lol And thanks for saying it was well-written :) Oh, and for celebrating my 200 review thing! Hope you enjoy the specially written cameos in the next chapter!

Black Rose 37- Yay! Another Gerard Butler appreciator! Isn't he just gorgeous? He just HAD to be my muse for this story! And of course I wouldn't let him die, hes too damn fine to die lol

vixon1-Mwahahahahah! You thought I shot Bastian didn't you? Mwahahahahaha! ahem Please don't bite your nails off, I promise no more evilness!

Damian-OMG! You called me a little sh!t! As proud as I am to evoke such a strong reaction from you, I may have to use it against you and put you at the back of the queue to receiveBastian-loving now! There, how'd you like that? No...No...NO...please don't send Andrew Gilld to me, please! I'll be good I promise!

nebulia-Lol, what a great response! "Oh my, Oh my!" Heehee! Anyway, ive updated as requested, Hope you like!

bellamegs-Lol well its kind of a paradox if you say 'I'm not reviewing' in a review! Heehee! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

jr.Journalist- Sorry for the delay in the last chapter, at least this ones slightly quicker! And the next one will be quicker still!

earthsprite-Thanks for the compliment :) I hope you carry on reading!

Missyblue-Wow, I made your hands shake? I have the power! Lol!

leotabelle13-To answer your question, although uve probably guessed now, neither! I'm too nice to kill off main characters!

Nuintincowen-Heehee, why is everyone calling me evil? I'm just doing what i have to do! Will i go to fanfiction hell now? Was this update quick enough to save me?

HiroNoTsuki-Hi, hope you got my e-mail and that it helped clear stuff up for you! I really do hope you keep on reading...even though this is way ahead in the story and by the time you see it, you'll have already read it...and wait, confusing myself!

RoxyFoxyChick-No! No! I'm sorry, please don't die! There's been too many deaths already! Lol and extreme dramatism is fine, i do it all the time!

raveene-Thanks so much for your compliment! I hope you continue reading!

Lightshade-Hi! Thanks for reviewing after lurking around :) Your review was so sweet, i'm all blushing now, i bet you're a fantastic writer, please let me know when you do post some of your own stuff if you haven't already! And I love POTO too :) Bastian and Tristan plushies? Now theres a good idea...

PeriodicBrilliance-Lol I haven't done it, I haven't killed him! As if i would! BatB is my favourite fairy tale as well :) And me writing suspense novels? Hmmm I like that idea...as long as they can be romantic suspense novels!

Phew! All done!